Haseki Hurrem Sultan Complex Istanbul

This grand complex on Haseki Caddesi or Road in Fatih is also divided in two parts by the road. Haseki Hurrem is better known as Roxelana, the beloved and very powerful wife of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent . It is of no surprise that this complex donated by Roxelana in 1539 is the third largest in all Istanbul although the mosque has been placed in a rather confined and dreary part of the courtyard.

The medrese, directly opposite across the road, is much grander and far more impressive, even with the removal of the fine panels of Iznik tiles that once sat in the lunettes above the windows; these are now at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum for their security and preservation. Next door is a small two-storey schoolhouse and behind it the soup kitchen (imaret) with its many chimneys and this was one of the last to hand out free food to the poor in the city. The grand octagonal hospital building has since been abandoned and there were plans to change the complex into a hotel but these have been shelved; the complex is in great need of restoration. Roxelana was not buried here but with her husband in the grounds of the Suleymaniye Mosque .